Biggest Mistakes Executives Make When Creating an IT Plan

Your IT plan is your road map on your entrepreneurial journey. Without one, it’s easy to plan for the short-term without looking ahead to understand what you need to get to that next benchmark. Between routine installs and out-of-date technology, expenses can add up.

Not Updating

It can be easy to reuse the same map year after year. Besides, you know what works, and as the saying goes, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” However, this is simply flawed logic. Your company is not in the same scenario it was five years ago, and neither is the world around you. Technology changes over time, and your clients will expect more from you than ever before. Just like upgrading your maps to GPS systems or downloading the latest maps, updating your IT plan allows you to account for the latest and greatest technology that you might not have known about otherwise.

Not Planning for the Future

You have big plans for your business. Why not have big plans for your IT? Planning just for today might be cheaper in the short-term, but it hurts your business when your hardware goes out of date and when you expand. Think where you want to be in one, five, and even ten years from now, and choose technologies that can grow to achieve that. By choosing systems that have a long lifespan and allow for easy scalability such as VoIP and cloud-based services, you get more mileage out of your systems at a lower rate.

Not Planning For a Disaster

Disaster is inevitable. You will walk into work one day only to find out that a hacker is holding your files for ransom or your hard drive crashes. Disaster prevention and recovery measures allow you to know with 100% certainty that you are covered under any circumstance. Antivirus software and endpoint protection serve as your shield to repel incoming malware attacks. Meanwhile, a managed disaster recovery backup provides a clone of your entire system at full health. This is without the hassle of reinstalling every app or readjust settings to your liking, allowing you to minimize downtime and expenses.

Do your homework when it comes to your IT plan. By thinking through where your business will be in the future, you can best estimate what you need today. Most of all, maximize the potential of the products you use to get the most for your money. If you estimate your business will remain the same size it is now, find systems that perform best with that size. If you plan to grow rapidly, think through systems that can expand at that same rate without long installation periods. Each business is on their own journey. What’s yours?